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Northcentral Technical College Disability Services Guidelines for Use of Service Animals. Unless otherwise approved, animals are not allowed inside NTC facilities unless they meet the definition of a service animal under the ADA.

Service Animal Definition

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as a dog or miniature horse that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling a wheelchair, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack, or performing other duties. Service animals are working animals, not pets. The work or task a service animal has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

Under the ADA, service animals are allowed to accompany a person with a disability on campus. A service animal must be permitted to accompany a person with a disability everywhere on campus except in situations where safety may be compromised or where the animal may interfere with the fundamental nature of the activities being conducted. The college may not bar service animals because of noise concerns when part of the service the animal provides to its partner is alerting him or her to possible dangers or obstacles by barking. A service dog can be any breed or size. Miniature horses range in height from 24-34 inches measured to the shoulders, and generally weigh between 70-100 lbs. Service animals may wear specialized equipment such as a backpack, harness, or special collar or leash, but this is not a legal requirement.

Responsibilities of a Person Using a Service Animal

To be qualified to utilize a service animal at Northcentral Technical College, the handler should be prepared to identify the animal as a service animal required because of a disability and describe what work or task the service animal has been trained to perform.

Local ordinances regarding animals apply to service animals, including requirements for immunization, licensing, noise, restraint, at-large animals, and dangerous animals. Dogs must wear a license tag and current rabies vaccination tag.

The handler must be in full control of the animal at all times. The care and supervision of a service animal is solely the responsibility of its handler. The animal must be maintained and used at all times in ways that do not create safety hazards for other people.

The handler is responsible for cleaning up the animal’s waste. The handler should always carry equipment and bags sufficient to clean up and properly dispose of the animal’s waste. Handlers who are not physically able to pick up and dispose of the waste are responsible for making all necessary arrangements for assistance. The college is not responsible for these services.

Other Circumstances Regarding Service Animals

Service animals may be asked to leave Northcentral Technical College facilities or grounds under circumstances that may include the following:

The animal is objectively determined to be presently incapable of performing appropriate and disability-related work or tasks for the handler and is deemed as indistinguishable from a pet or companion animal, thus not meeting the specific ADA definition of a “service animal.”

The animal is unruly or disruptive or exhibits aggressive or fearful behavior. An animal that engages in such disruptive behavior shows that it has not been successfully trained to function as a service animal in public settings. Therefore, it is no longer a requirement to treat it as a service animal, even if the animal is one that performs an assistive function for a person with a disability.

The animal is destructive.

The animal is ill. Service animals that are ill should not be taken into public areas.

The animal is not clean. However, an animal that becomes wet from weather or weather-related incidents, but is otherwise clean, should be considered a clean animal.

For more information regarding service animals, please contact Disability Service at 715.803.1469.